How about a cover for today? I really love BMTH doing Oasis!
Next up on the TBR pile:
Life Right Now #7
As I look outside my window: We’re alternating between sunshine and clouds with a lot of wind. Just a normal spring day here in the Midwest.
Right now I am: Mentally preparing to go and make some scones.
On my bedside table: All the manga series I want to read/are reading… plus all my unread shelf books I guess.
On my tv this week: We’re mostly been watching Dimension 20, but also lots of Um Actually and a few episodes of Alice in Borderland.
Listening to: All Stray Kids all the time.
On the menu for this week:
Monday - Parmesan Tilapia
Tuesday - Me out at book club
Wednesday - Cajun Chicken Alfredo
Thursday - J’s birthday dinner
Friday - Broccoli Beef
Saturday - Kimchi Stew
Sunday - Pot Roast
On my to do list: I have a ton of homeschool co-op admin tasks this week. I also want to finish planning our Indiana trip for the end of April. And I should probably catch up on my blog drafts.
Happening this week:
Monday - Home Day
Tuesday - Book Club
Wednesday - Coffee with potential co-op member
Thursday - Enrichment Kick-off Playdate; J’s Birthday
Friday - Nature Hike
Saturday - Home Day
Sunday - Home Day
What I am creating: I should focus on my Memory Planner, but not sure when that’s going to happen.
My simple pleasures: A good night’s sleep, new Stray Kids music (seriously so excited! Escape is a masterpiece), new fun graphic tees
Looking around the house: I did a big pickup yesterday so we’re in good shape. I would like to work on the curriculum piles in my office, but not sure when that’s going to happen.
From the camera: Very few photos this week…
Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
Title: Deep End
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Publisher: Berkley 2025
Genre: Romance
Pages: 447
Rating: 3/5 stars
Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - Sports; Cover Lover - Someone in water
Where I Got It: Library
Spice Rating: 6
Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.
Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.
So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water...
I think I have a love/hate/indifference relationship with Ali Hazelwood. Or maybe it’s that they remind me of reality television style plots and characters. Either way, I was so excited to read this one and dove in (haha puns) immediately. But I once again found myself super frustrated with her characters and the pacing. I felt like we sat way too much in the big confusion section of Lukas and Scarlett’s relationship and not enough time in the actually figuring it out stage. And don’t get me started on how many paragraphs are focused on the technical aspects of diving and her practice regime. Seriously, at least 50% of that could have been deleted with no interruption in the story. I felt like Hazelwood got way too in depth with the sport and not enough into the relationship. At the end I was seriously left wanting so much more for the characters and story.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Title: Chain-Gang All-Stars
Author: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Publisher: Pantheon 2023
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 367
Rating: 3/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Cover Lover - A weapon
Where I Got It: Library
Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are the stars of the Chain-Gang All-Stars, the cornerstone of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a highly popular, highly controversial profit-raising program in America’s increasingly dominant private prison industry. It’s the return of the gladiators, and prisoners are competing for the ultimate prize: their freedom.
In CAPE, prisoners travel as Links in Chain-Gangs, competing in death matches before packed arenas with righteous protestors at the gates. Thurwar and Staxxx, both teammates and lovers, are the fan favorites. And if all goes well, Thurwar will be free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares to leave her fellow Links, Thurwar considers how she might help preserve their humanity, in defiance of these so-called games. But CAPE’s corporate owners will stop at nothing to protect their status quo, and the obstacles they lay in Thurwar’s path have devastating consequences.
Moving from the Links in the field to the protestors, to the CAPE employees and beyond, Chain-Gang All-Stars is a kaleidoscopic, excoriating look at the American prison system’s unholy alliance of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration, and a clear-eyed reckoning with what freedom in this country really means from a “new and necessary American voice” (Tommy Orange, The New York Times Book Review)..
Not going to sugar coat this one, this book was a rough experience. The story opens with extreme violence and does not let up until the end. We get a very important, serious look at racial justice, the prison system, and our attitudes toward punishment. The book has the potential to open some eyes to the path that we are on. And yes, the violence is an important aspect of that. I think that I read this book at the wrong time. I’m in the midst of a depression spiral triggered by life and the state of the world around me. I just found it so difficult to pick this book up on any day. Had to force myself to read it, which is not the attitude I am trying to cultivate with my reading right now. Should be an interesting book club discussion in a few months…
Next up on the TBR pile:
Moonshine Vol. 4 Angels Share and Vol. 5 The Well
Title: Moonshine Volume 4: Angels Share
Author: Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso
Publisher: Image 202012
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 120
Rating: 3/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series
Lou Pirlo escaped the zombie-filled bayou of New Orleans only to land down on his luck in Cleveland—living in a shanty town known as "Kingsbury Run," which just happens to be where the very first serial killer in the US is hunting, and none other than the great Eliot Ness is on his trail. Meanwhile, Tempest has finagled her way into the heart of Lou's old gang in NYC, searching for her lost father, Hiram. Werewolves, G-Men, serial killers, mobsters…what more can you ask for?
Collects MOONSHINE #18-22
The next volume moves location and time once again. I found the switch to be a bit jarring and had to reorient myself. I didn’t really like how Lou’s story seemingly got stuck and we didn’t see much movement of plot. I wanted to see more about what happened with Delia and Jean Baptiste. But we don’t get that in this volume.
Title: Moonshine Volume 5: The Well
Author: Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso
Publisher: Image 2021
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 144
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series
Torpedo-turned-werewolf Lou Pirlo finally returns to NYC, and he's come at just about the worst possible time. With Prohibition on its last legs, happy days are here no longer for those in the rum-running business. As an all-out war brews between Joe the Boss and the Holts of Appalachia—AND Lou's lost love Delia returns—Lou's life is about to get a whole lot messier…or is it bloodier?
Writer BRIAN AZZARELLO and artist EDUARDO RISSO, the Eisner Award-winning creative team behind the crime classic 100 Bullets, bring this brutal series to its sobering conclusion.
Collects MOONSHINE #23-28
Thankfully the series ended fairly strongly. I was concerned that we were going to have Hollywood happy ending that would seem at odds with the story. I’m glad that the story played out in a logical fashion given the choices of the characters. This is a violent, dark story, but overall it is one that I enjoyed exploring.
Moonshine
Next up on the TBR pile:
Moonshine Vol. 2 Misery Train and Vol. 3 Rue Le Jour
Title: Moonshine Volume 2: Misery Train
Author: Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso
Publisher: Image 2018
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 144
Rating: 3/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series
“Torpedo” Lou Pirlo thought his troubles might be over when he and his new girl, Delia, hopped a boxcar headed to New Orleans—as far and fast as they could get away from the hillbillies in Appalachia and the Mafia killers in New York City. But trouble has a habit of sticking to Lou… and trouble ain’t all that’s stuck to Lou. See, Lou got bit by a werewolf, and now the most deadly monster hunter on Earth will stop at nothing to put this dog down. The hit horror/crime series that Nerdist called “damn near perfect” is back from the creative team behind the seminal crime drama 100 Bullets! Also reprinting variant covers from GABRIEL BÁ, FÁBIO MOON, RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE, GRAMPÁ, and JORGE ZAFFINO! Collects MOONSHINE #7-12
I read the first trade in this series back when it published I think and somehow forgot about it. I was going back through my records and decided to finish the series. The second volume moves the story forward but not by much. I wanted to see a bit more movement from the characters. It felt like after the first volume, this one got stuck a bit…
Title: Moonshine Volume 3: Rue Le Jour
Author: Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso
Publisher: Image 2020
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 120
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series
The hit supernatural gangster story continues! Delia is on a quest to rid Lou Pirlo of his werewolf curse, and along the way, she enlists the help of two witches who come at a high price. Lou is a resourceful man, willing to do whatever it takes to pay, but when you've got no soul left to sell, bad things are going to happen.
Collects MOONSHINE #13-17
Thankfully this next volume changes locale and amps up the story. We get to meet some new characters and learn more about Lou while dealing with the aftermath in Virginia. I’m now actually excited to see where this story goes next. I foresee more complications with Tempest leaving the mountains and the altercation with Jean Baptiste at the end of this volume.
Moonshine
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Next up on the TBR pile:
Fragments by Dan Wells
Title: Fragments (Partials Sequence #2)
Author: Dan Wells
Publisher: Balzar + Bray 2013
Genre: YA Scifi
Pages: 576
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series; Cover Lover - Futuristic Scene
Where I Got It: Library
After discovering the cure for RM, Kira Walker sets off on a terrifying journey into the ruins of postapocalyptic America and the darkest desires of her heart in order to uncover the means—and a reason—for humanity's survival.
This second volume of the series didn’t really surprise me. I telegraphed almost everything that happened, but still found myself turning th pages waiting to see what happens next. I enjoyed the move out of New York and focusing on Kira and Samm as they attempt to travel hundreds of miles to find answers. We get enough switch in perspective to check back in with those back east, but thankfully we don’t spend a majority of our time there. I must say that Marcus is my least favorite character… he just seems stuck in life and things happen to him as opposed to him doing things. I loved finally meeting Ariel and learning more of the truth about their origins. But my favorite sections were definitely seeing our travelers navigate Chicago and the waste land. I am excited to finish this trilogy soon.
Partials Sequence:
#2 Fragments
#3 Ruins
Next up on the TBR pile:
Homeschool W25: Another Normal Week (We're on a Roll!)
What We Studied
Another week full of regular schoolwork, co-op, and a few activities. Very very normal.
Literature and Poetry
Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. Arthur finished the co-op book club selection. We cannot wait to discuss it in two weeks. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. We finished our read aloud at the end of the week. Perfect timing.
Poetry: The Tree That Time Built
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Math
Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. We ended up taking a short break from our textbook to explore more logic and algebraic expressions and do some review and catchup.
Math in Focus Course 1 Book A
Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons. Taking it slow but moving along.
Singapore Primary 3A
Primarily Logic
Social Studies
Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We covered North America and the attempts at colonization.
Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. We covered a chapter about Russia and the Ivans.
History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
DK Explorers
The Mongol Empire from Britannica Educational Publishing
Follow Me Around: Russia by Wiley Blevins
Let's Explore Russia by Walt K. Moon
Living In Russia by Jesse Burton
Russia ABCs by Ann Berge
Matreshka by Becky Hickox Ayres
The Flying Witch by Jane Yolen
The Black Geese by Alison Lurie
Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave by Marianna Mayer
Grandma Chickenlegs by Geraldine McCaughrean
Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll by Hiawyn Oram
Baba Yaga by An Leysen
Science
Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall and spring semester courses, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. Other than co-op, we watched a ton of PBS Eons videos this week.
RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim
Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. We started a small unit about weather But we also just watched a ton of PBS Eons videos.
RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
Nat Geo Kids: Weather
The Child's Introduction to the Environment
What Will the Weather Be? by Lynda Dewitt
Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons
DK Eyewonder: Weather
Boy, Were We Wrong About the Weather by Kathleen V. Kudlinski
Academic Co-op
We’re entering the home stretch of this semester of co-op. For biology, the kids learned about reptiles and birds. In art, they covered blind contour drawing. And for writer’s workshop, we conferenced the fictional narratives. Only one week to go!
Art and Music
Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies.
For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. We covered Donna Summer and The Bee Gees, so I guess it was disco week. The boys liked The Bee Gees more than Donna Summer, but neither were favorites.
Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts
Field Trip/Activities
No specific field trip this week, but we did finally get back to the zoo. We visited the desert, jungle, and aquarium with some friends. It was lovely to get back to our favorites.
High
The boys got to attend the winter homeschool dance on Thursday night and then sketchbook club on Friday afternoon. So two big activities with friends.
Low
I’m getting some attitude and laziness from both of the boys. I’m annoyed…
Next Week
Starting our new read alouds
Moving forward with our math textbooks
Traveling to the Victorian Britain (A) and the Mughal Empire (Q) for history
Exploring weather and climate for science
Listening to Madonna
Moving into the last week of Academic Co-op
Next up on the TBR pile:
Music Monday - The Plot in You "Pretend"
A band that I immediately liked the first time I heard it on the radio. Loving it!
Next up on the TBR pile:
Life Right Now #6
As I look outside my window: It’s been a rainy weekend here. A storm rolled in on Friday night and the clouds stuck around. We definitely need the rain, but I could do without the high winds.
Right now I am: Deciding what to make for brunch. Maybe I’ll make scones… lemon poppy seed and/or ham and cheddar.
On my bedside table: All the manga! Seriously, I have most of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Jujutsu Kaisen sitting here. I’m missing a few volumes yet from the library and don’t want to dive in until I get them. So it looks like the second half of March will be all comics and manga.
On my tv this week: J and I watched multiple episodes of S1 of Dimension 20. We’re getting closer to the end of that campaign. I also caught up with my Below Deck and The Bachelor.
Listening to: All Stray Kids all the time!
On the menu for this week:
Monday - Parmesan Tilapia
Tuesday - Lemon Ginger Turmeric Chicken Soup
Wednesday - Me Out
Thursday - Snack Dinner
Friday - Buffalo Chicken Sliders
Saturday - Cajun Chicken and Sausage Alfredo
Sunday - Broccoli Beef
On my to do list: I have a ton of homeschool tasks for today. The biggest is making a video for the social co-op about our clarifying of expectations and rules.
Happening this week:
Monday -
Tuesday -
Wednesday - Joslyn Art Museum; Book Club
Thursday - Academic Co-op (Last Week!); Co-op Happy Hour
Friday - Board Game Club
Saturday - Cookout with Friends
Sunday - Nerdy Bookish Friends Book Discussion
What I am creating: I would like to work on my February Memory Planner. And maybe start laying out the bookish retreat name tags.
My simple pleasures: Coffee, kids who listen to me, eating lunch outside
Looking around the house: I need to do a general pickup and I probably have a ton of laundry to do. But I’ll get there.
From the camera: Thursday we dropped the boys off at the homeschool dance and went to dinner! A proper adult dinner to celebrate both of our birthdays. It was so good! I got the duck and J got the salmon.
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
Title: Romantic Comedy
Author: Curtis Sittenfeld
Publisher: Random House 2023
Genre: Romance
Pages: 309
Rating: 2/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Quarter of a Century - 2023; Romanceopoly - Festival Barn
Where I Got It: Library
Spice Rating: 4.5
Sally Milz is a sketch writer for The Night Owls, a late-night live comedy show that airs every Saturday. With a couple of heartbreaks under her belt, she’s long abandoned the search for love, settling instead for the occasional hook-up, career success, and a close relationship with her stepfather to round out a satisfying life.
But when Sally’s friend and fellow writer Danny Horst begins dating Annabel, a glamorous actress who guest-hosted the show, he joins the not-so-exclusive group of talented but average-looking and even dorky men at the show—and in society at large—who’ve gotten romantically involved with incredibly beautiful and accomplished women. Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch called The Danny Horst Rule, poking fun at this phenomenon while underscoring how unlikely it is that the reverse would ever happen for a woman.
Enter Noah Brewster, a pop music sensation with a reputation for dating models, who signed on as both host and musical guest for this week’s show. Dazzled by his charms, Sally hits it off with Noah instantly, and as they collaborate on one sketch after another, she begins to wonder if there might actually be sparks flying. But this isn’t a romantic comedy—it’s real life. And in real life, someone like him would never date someone like her . . . right?
With her keen observations and trademark ability to bring complex women to life on the page, Curtis Sittenfeld explores the neurosis-inducing and heart-fluttering wonder of love, while slyly dissecting the social rituals of romance and gender relations in the modern age.
Oh goodness. I truly disliked this book. My main issue with the book is actually the format and writing style. The “Dear Diary” style of relating the week at the non-SNL production got old really fast. It felt super immature and distracted from the characters. The second section of emails was tired and repetitive. I couldn’t even imagine having to listen to that on audio. Thank goodness that I was reading it with my eyes. The third section was the only part that I was okay with. It’s written with first-person narrative, but seems normal. My other issue with the book is the story itself. There’s an attempt to show a story focused on insecure woman as she attempts to not fuck up a New Romantic relationship. I appreciate the attempt, but found Sally so unlikeable and annoying in many ways. I would have liked to see so much more between her and Noah, but instead we don’t get them together until the 70% mark of the book. As an extra note, I hated reading the COVID section. The entire section where Jerry contracts COVID seemed out of place and took my out of the point of the book. This is going to be interesting book club.
Next up on the TBR pile:
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Title: The Last Unicorn
Author: Peter S. Beagle
Publisher: 1968
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 294
Rating: 3/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Books to Movies; Fairytale Retelling - Mythology
Where I Got It: Library
The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone. So she ventured out from the safety of the enchanted forest on a quest for others of her kind. Joined along the way by the bumbling magician Schmendrick and the indomitable Molly Grue, the unicorn learns all about the joys and sorrows of life and love before meeting her destiny in the castle of a despondent monarch—and confronting the creature that would drive her kind to extinction...
Our Nerdy Bookish Friend selection for May (it got bumped from March). It’s been on my TBR for absolute years. I finally got around to it and I’m not sure exactly how I feel about this one. I kept having to remind myself that this was written in 1968. The story felt very dated, but again, 1968. There are a few scenes that were pretty disturbing and I couldn’t decide if they actually fit the story at all. The story meandered a little too much in sections. There are passages that are beautiful and fun. I can see why this became a classic, but I ultimately was sorta disappointed in this read.
Next up on the TBR pile:
The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair
Title: The Secret Lives of Color
Author: Kassia St. Clair
Publisher: Penguin Books 2016
Genre: Nonfiction
Pages: 284
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: COYER; Nonfiction Reader
Where I Got It: Kindle
The Secret Lives of Color tells the unusual stories of seventy-five fascinating shades, dyes, and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso’s blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green, and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history.
In this book, Kassia St. Clair has turned her lifelong obsession with colors and where they come from (whether Van Gogh’s chrome yellow sunflowers or punk’s fluorescent pink) into a unique study of human civilization. Across fashion and politics, art and war, the secret lives of color tell the vivid story of our culture.
I randomly picked this from my backlog of Kindle selections. I enjoyed a light journey through various historical vignettes about colors. I liked learning specific shades. There’s a lot of history in here that obviously took a lot of research. It didn’t surprise me that so many colors involve various toxins and poisons. An interesting read in between all my more serious books.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis
Title: Dreadful
Author: Caitlin Rozakis
Publisher: Titan Books 2024
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 344
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Cover Lover - Bookish Elements
Where I Got It: Library
It’s bad enough waking up in a half-destroyed evil wizard’s workshop with no eyebrows, no memories, and no idea how long you have before the Dread Lord Whomever shows up to murder you horribly and then turn your skull into a goblet or something.
It’s a lot worse when you realize that Dread Lord Whomever is… you.
Gav isn’t really sure how he ended up with a castle full of goblins, or why he has a princess locked in a cell. All he can do is play along with his own evil plan in hopes of getting his memories back before he gets himself killed.
But as he realizes that nothing – from the incredibly tasteless cloak adorned with flames to the aforementioned princess – is quite what it seems, Gav must face up to all the things the Dread Lord Gavrax has done. And he’ll have to answer the hardest question of all – who does he want to be?
A high fantasy farce featuring killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, an evil wizard convocation, and a garlic festival. All at once. All in all, Dread Lord Gavrax has had better weeks.
Overall, this was such a delight. I choose it for my speculative fiction book club because I was hoping for something a bit lighter and fun. It delivered on both of those fronts. We immediately jump into the action and have to puzzle out the past along with Gav. Apparently I really like the amnesia trope in fantasy books. I found it a lot of fun to try and piece together all the mysteries and secrets surrounding the Dread Lord. I was afraid that the book was going to continue with Gav attempting to deceive everyone. Quickly a few others figure out that he has amnesia and even more hijinks ensue. There’s a lot of humor mixed in with the horror and I loved it. Ultimately, I wanted to see a bit more about the larger world and magic. But, I enjoyed my time reading the book.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Currently #3
Reading: I’m almost finished reading Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld. It’s our book club selection this month and I have some mixed feelings. Waiting until I finish the book before making my official determination.
Watching: J and finally started watching Alice in Borderland as I finished the manga series last month. I am enjoying the changes while retaining the basic ideas from the manga.
Listening: Stray Kids all the time, every day. That’s all.
Making: J and I have officially started our podcast about War and Peace. I’m excited to get into the book more and establish a routine.
Feeling: Since Christmas, I’ve been feeling weirdly disconnected. My depression has been harder to keep at bay.
Planning: The Enrichment Co-op is starting at the beginning of April. I need to start planning my lessons, but I guess I need to reconfirm the weeks that I am actually teaching.
Loving: I finally got my birthday cake this past weekend and of course it was German chocolate. Love it so much!
Next up on the TBR pile:
Homeschool W24: Back to Normal?
What We Studied
We had a pretty normal week. Lots of schoolwork, a few activities, but also weather that interrupted some plans. We had a big blizzard blow through on Tuesday night that cancelled our Wednesday plans. We pivoted by covering more schoolwork and watching some more documentaries. Not a big deal.
Literature and Poetry
Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. Arthur dove into our next coop book club selection. We’re both really loving it! It’s a gentle story, but with a lot to say. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Science Verse by Jon Scieszka
The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. We started our next read aloud that aligns with our Blossom and Root curriculum. We’re both really loved it!
Poetry: Out of This World: ICE Poems About Polar Life by Douglas Florian
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Math
Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. We ended up taking a short break from our textbook to explore more logic and algebraic expressions.
Math in Focus Course 1 Book A
Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons. Taking it slow but moving along.
Singapore Primary 3A
Primarily Logic
Social Studies
Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. Because of our changes in scheduled, we ended up covering three sections of history this week. We learned about the Latin American Revolutions in South America, the revolutions in Brazil and Mexico, and the African Zulu Empire and Central African caliphates
Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Simon Bolivar: Latin American Liberator by Frank de Varona
A Kid’s Guide to Latino History: More than 50 Activities, by Valerie Petrillo
Latinitas: Celebrating 40 Big Dreamers, by Juliet Menendez
Where Is the Amazon?, by Sarah Fabiny
DK Eyewitness: The Amazon
Fiesta Femenina: Celebrating Women of Mexican Folklore, by Mary-Joan Gerson
Tales Our Abuelitas Told: A Hispanic Folktale Collection, by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy
Brazil: Enchantment of the World, by Ann Heinrichs
Mexico: Enchantment of the World, by Liz Sonneborn
A Kid's Guide to Latino History by Valerie Petrillo
Shaka Zulu by Richard Spilsbury
Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. We covered two chapters, one about the Inca Empire and one about the Renaissance..
History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
DK Explorers
Ancient Civilizations: Aztecs, Maya, Incas! by Anita Yasuda
The Inca Empire by Sandra Newman
20 Fun Facts About Machu Picchu by Janey Levy
Inca by Lawrence Kovacs
Lost Treasure of the Inca by Peter Lourie
A Look at Renaissance Art by J. Jean Robertson
Raphael by Mike Venezia
Leonardo, Beautiful Dreamer by Robert Byrd
Leonardo da Vinci by Mike Venezia
The Renaissance by Enzo George
Science
Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall and spring semester courses, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. Other than co-op, we watched a ton of PBS Eons videos this week.
RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim
Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. We jumped back into RSO Earth & Environment to cover the atmosphere. But we also just watched a ton of PBS Eons videos.
RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
Academic Co-op
We’re entering the home stretch of this semester of co-op. For biology, the kids learned about fish and amphibians. For art, they focused on abstract and absurdist art. And for writing, we started our unit on Fictional Narrative. Only two weeks to go!
Art and Music
Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies.
For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go.
Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts
Field Trip/Activities
No specific field trip this week.
High
We got a lot of curriculum covered…
Low
The weather brought a fun winter storm and some terrible road conditions that disrupted our week. We had to skip our nature walk due to sleet and soggy ground. And our social meetup was cancelled due to the blizzard.
Next Week
Finishing our read alouds, probably starting our next ones
Moving forward with our math textbooks
Traveling to the United States and Russia (A) and Russia (Q) for history
Exploring weather for science
Visiting the zoo
Attending a nature class
Moving into the last two weeks of Academic Co-op
Next up on the TBR pile:
Music Monday - Breaking Benjamin "Awaken"
And a turn to a band that I’ve been listening to for almost 30 years…
Next up on the TBR pile:
My Vampire Plus-One by Jenna Levine
Title: My Vampire Plus-One (My Vampires #2)
Author: Jenna Levine
Publisher: Berkley 2024
Genre: Romance
Pages: 372
Rating: /5 stars
Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - The Frosty Bistro; Cover Lover - Eyewear
Where I Got It: Library
Spice Rating: 4
Amelia Collins is by definition successful. She would even go so far as to say successfully single. But not according to her family, and she's tired of the constant questions about her nonexistent dating life. When an invitation to yet another family wedding arrives, she decides to get everyone off her back once and for all by finding someone--anyone--to pose as her date.
After a chance encounter with Reginald Cleaves, Amelia decides he's perfect for her purposes. He's a bit strange, but that’s fine; it'll discourage tough questions from her family. (And it certainly doesn't hurt that he's very handsome.) For centuries-old vampire Reggie, posing as her plus-one sounds like the ultimate fun. And if it helps his ruse of pretending to be human, so much the better.
As Amelia and Reggie practice their fauxmance, it becomes clear that Reggie is as loyal to her as the day is long, and that Amelia’s first impressions could not have been more wrong. Suddenly, being in a real relationship with Reggie sounds pretty fang-tastic.
The book had been on my list from the fall when I wanted a bit of supernatural angle to my reading. Unfortunately, there were a ton of holds on the book. Overall, this was super cute. Reggie is an oddball vampire who’s not looking for love. Amelia is an accountant pretty stuck in her life. Together they are a strange pairing but one that actually works. We get some ridiculous romance tropes: fake dating, forced proximity, and silly miscommunication. I wasn’t annoyed by any of them, but this isn’t the best romance I’ve read. It was cute and fun, just what I needed for this week, but nothing amazing.
My Vampires
#1 My Roommate is a Vampire
#2 My Vampire Plus-One
Next up on the TBR pile:
All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall
Title: All the Water in the World
Author: Eiren Caffall
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2025
Genre: SciFi
Pages: 304
Rating: 5/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Read Around the USA - New York; Cover Lover - Famous Structure
Where I Got It: Library
All the Water in the World is told in the voice of a girl gifted with a deep feeling for water. In the years after the glaciers melt, Nonie, her older sister and her parents and their researcher friends have stayed behind in an almost deserted New York City, creating a settlement on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History. The rule: Take from the exhibits only in dire need. They hunt and grow their food in Central Park as they work to save the collections of human history and science. When a superstorm breaches the city’s flood walls, Nonie and her family must escape north on the Hudson. They carry with them a book that holds their records of the lost collections. Racing on the swollen river towards what may be safety, they encounter communities that have adapted in very different and sometimes frightening ways to the new reality. But they are determined to find a way to make a new world that honors all they've saved.
Inspired by the stories of the curators in Iraq and Leningrad who worked to protect their collections from war, All the Water in the World is both a meditation on what we save from collapse and an adventure story―with danger, storms, and a fight for survival. In the spirit of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and Parable of the Sower, this wild journey offers the hope that what matters most – love and work, community and knowledge – will survive.
50 pages into this book and I contemplated DNFing it. Not because I hated it, but because it was really bringing all the emotion and I didn’t know if I could handle that right now. I persevered and absolutely ended up loving this one so much. There’s beautiful writing, relatable characters, and suspense. This apocalypse feels very relevant and prescient to our world right now. But we get to experience it through the eyes of a child who doesn’t quite remember The World Before. While the world drowns, Nonie has a love and affinity with the water. That dichotomy alone intrigued me. I loved her commentary about the pull of the water and the wonder at the life that it holds. The book flips between the present escape from AMNH and their life in AMNH after the floods came. We slowly learn more about the characters and their struggles and triumphs over the years. This book deals with a lot of death and it’s very present on th page, but it was told in such a beautiful way that I couldn’t put it down.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Odds and Ends
Here's my randomness for the week:
I’m currently reading six books right now. It might be a bit much.
A blizzard came through on Tuesday night, disrupting my plans for yesterday. No birthday dinner out for me. Instead, we have pushed it to this weekend at some point.
Trying to take advantage of all the birthday offers from various places. We’ll see what I can work into my plans for Sunday.
Next up on the TBR pile: